This week, we are excited to have Angela Rossi guest posting on the blog. Angela is the creator of Picture Day Notecards and the Picture Day Journal. Read on for her post, and head over to Facebook for a chance to win a Picture Day prize pack!

Back in the day, few words conjured up excitement like “recess”, “field trip” or my favorite, PICTURE DAY. Besides the confusion of why we had to say “cheese”, which still baffles me to this day, it was a time where I could sit, pageant like, while a nice person, gently stroked my cowlick and straightened my barrettes. A pull-down backdrop and an empty stool awaited me. “Look pretty”, “smile”, “say cheese”. Poof, done, one shot and my photo shoot was over, be it as it may…

We would be outside in the school yard and then assemble for the coup de grace, the entire class picture where even the teacher would join us. Within two weeks the large white envelope would arrive with my name on it, inside the treasures in graduated sizes that would grace the homes of my grandparents, aunts and uncles. I never liked my picture but it didn’t matter as it was more important to see the class picture. Searching for my boyfriend du jour and my best friend’s poses always put a smile on my face, and still does. Like wine, school pictures get better and better with age.

My creativity was starting to show when picture day came and I wanted my braids wired, the way Pippi Longstocking had hers. Under protest, my Mother cut a wire and inserted it inside the braid and then turned half of the braid upward. Happily, I skipped off to school only to have everyone laughing and pointing at me. I was 6 and never did that again. Another year, I begged to have an asymmetrical haircut for my picture—long on one side, shaved on the other—pretty chic for a 9 year-old, but Cyndi Lauper was my idol.

I started creating the Picture Day Series and fell right back into the innocence of that special time. Awkward poses, lopsided smiles, polka dot bows saved special for this day. People tell me that the pictures put a smile on their face which of course, puts a smile on mine. At this moment I am thinking of that large white envelope with my name on it; picture day was awesome.